District of Columbia, DC Water Table Trend
District of Columbia, DC: what the water table is actually doing
Over 23 years of USGS readings, the well tracking District of Columbia's aquifer is declining faster than most declining counties: 5.6 ft per decade.
This is one representative well, not a county-wide survey, the same grain limit every page here discloses.
District of Columbia's source well, in detail
Depth to water at the last reading was 42.3 ft below land surface. Readings span 2004-01-22 to 2026-09-10, 127 measurements from USGS well USGS-385252076572801 (We Cb 8), part of the National Water Information System. The qualifying bar and the OLS fit behind this trend are documented in the methodology guide.
How District of Columbia compares nationally
District of Columbia sits at rank 1320th of 1,449 ranked counties, ordered rising-to-declining, so a low number means a rising water table and a high one means fast decline. District of Columbia, District of Columbia is home to about 702,250 people. See the fastest-moving counties guide for how District of Columbia stacks up against the most extreme cases nationally.
If you own a well in District of Columbia
A dropping water table means a residential pump has to reach deeper and work harder, which shortens its life. In District of Columbia, that trend is real, not assumed: 5.6 ft per decade over 23 years.
Depth and quality are separate questions
This page answers a depth question, not a quality one. A well in District of Columbia can be stable in depth and still worth testing for quality, or declining and still test clean, the two are measured separately, and only a direct test settles the second one.